prices, were sufficient to get nervous money onto the sidelines,” said David Leibowitz, managing director of Burnham Securities.

Iraqi’s saber-rattling against Kuwait sent oil prices to still another record high at $36 a barrel, up $1.85. A major hurricane bearing down on the Gulf of Mexico is also shutting down natural gas and oil production temporarily.

“On top of higher oil prices, there are more concerns about third-quarter earnings being lower than expected,” said Leibowitz.

Technology stocks took the biggest dive yesterday, pushing the Nasdaq down 2.01 percent to 3,835.23, off 78.63. For the week, the Nasdaq lost 143, or 3.6 percent.

Among the biggest tech losers was Oracle, down $6.63 to $78.31, after an earnings report left many investors feeling that growth was slower than expected.

Oil stocks were about the only big winners. Exxon Mobil hit its third record high this week, jumping $4.94 to $89.50 – one of just three stocks on the Dow Jones industrial average of 30 stocks to post gains.

Xerox jumped 11 percent to $17.88, up $1.88, on rumors it might be a takeover target for Canon or Hewlett-Packard.

The Dow fell 160.47, or 1.45 percent, to 10,927.00, down 2.6 percent for the week.

For the year, the Nasdaq is down 5.8 percent, the Dow is down 5 percent and the S&P 500 is off just 0.2 percent.

Tame economic data didn’t comfort many investors, since it told them what they already knew – that the economy is slowing and inflation is on hold.

The Consumer Price Index slipped 0.1 percent in August – instead of a 0.2 percent rise that most economists expected.

Many investors complained that the index didn’t take into account yet the soaring energy prices. In the U.K. and France, motorists and many industries are crippled by the lack of gasoline.

“This hasn’t been lost on investors here,” said analyst Leibowitz.

The CPI also hinted of inflation. For the first eight months this year, the CPI has risen at a 3.4 percent annual rate up from a 2.3 percent pace in the earlier year. The core rate has risen at a 2.6 percent pace, compared with a 1.5 percent rate.